“The Battle for Mosul and Raqqa” (June 22, 2017)

I have been reviewing the news the progress the Western alliance groups, the USA, the Kurdish, the Iraqi, Sunni Arab, Shia militiamen, and other rebel Syrian groups have made in the battle to oust ISIS from the various areas of Iraq and Syria, formerly claimed as the “Caliphate of ISIS”.  Mosul, in Iraq, yesterday witnessed the horrible destruction of the al-Nuri Mosque, an ancient mosque from the 9^th century and one of the oldest remaining mosques in Islam.  The leader of IS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, made his initial demand for allegiance from the Al-Nuri Mosque in July 2014 which he proclaimed as the center of the new caliphate of Islam.

The destruction of the mosque by ISIS has brought wide spread condemnation, according to the BBC News report today from the Middle East.  The Iraqi troops were reportedly within 50 feet of the structure, when ISIS destroyed the structure with explosives.   It is a symbolic blow to the Iraqi forces who had hoped to capture the mosque intact.  ISIS has proven to have no respect for historical sites, even those sacred to Sunni Islam.

Raqqa is the large city in northeastern Syria, which is remaining under ISIS control.  But the days of ISIS are numbered here as well.  Russia in its media reports announced they may have killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in one of its air strikes in Syria (on May 28), in a strike on Raqqa.  The US, Kurdish and Syrian Democratic forces have been involved in the liberation of this city as well.  There have been “staggering numbers of civilian deaths” per news reports, caused in some cases by the US-led air strikes.  Some of these deaths the UN has termed “war crimes.”

The US in the last week has shot down a Syrian warplane which dropped bombs on forces favorable to their side and also an Iranian drone.  Russia issued a stern warning to the US and its allies in a move to divide Syria into two primary districts.  The Syrian regime has regained more than 1500 square miles of territory from the opposition, mostly in Suwayda and Rif Dimashq, southwest Syria, and Homs.  The strategy which Russia and Iran are pursuing should result in a stronghold for the Syrian regime in the southwest Syria, for Russian and Iranian access to a port in the Mediterranean directly across from Israel.  The US led coalition of the Iraqi and Kurds will secure the North east portion of Syria, perhaps including Raqqa, along with Mosul.  This will provide a potential Kurdish area close to Turkey, but also keep Turkey from expanding too far into Syria or Iraq.  The Iranians remain the wild card with their continuing support of Hezbollah in Lebanon.  Except for the US support of Israel in the UN, the Israelis will become more and more isolated in the Middle East.

If the Palestinian state (homeland) cannot be resolved, with a million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, three-quarters of a million in the West Bank, and about a quarter of million in Israel proper, this whole area will remain a powder keg of potential conflict for decades to come.  If the Palestinian question could be resolved there could potentially be a new era of peace and perhaps peaceful cooperation in this region.

President Trump has chosen to allow the US commanders on the ground to manage this conflict in Syria and Iraq, which has proven to be a much better, albeit much more risky strategy than was pursued by President Obama, who was often accused of micromanaging all the details of that conflict.

It is hard not to speculate on the ultimate outcome of the Syrian conflict, the displacement of millions within the country, and the movement of so many others to Europe and other places to find peace.  The rise of Islamic extremism in Europe, fueled by the philosophy of ISIS, with much of it now homegrown, is proving to be a very difficult thing to eradicate, given the number of persons now in Europe who have emigrated there during the Syrian conflict, who have not embraced European democratic ideals.

I have begun wonder if these events are not laying a foundation for what the Bible calls the “End Times”, in which for a time the nation of Israel and the Jewish people enjoy a season of peace, only then to be brutally attacked by many nations (including Russia and Iran) who are bent on their ultimate destruction.  Were it not for the intervention of God, who goes to battle through Michael the archangel on the side of Israel, the whole of the nation would be destroyed.  Instead, according to Biblical prophecy, it is the enemies of Israel (“Gog and Magog”) who suffer the final defeat, so much so that it takes Israel seven months just to cleanse the land of the armaments of war left there after the final defeat of their enemies!  (Ezekiel chapters 38-39)

My point of this discussion is the desire of Russia to once again secure a dominant position on the world stage, which despite its mediocre economy and aging army still wants to recover its lost position from the era of the cold war.  Putin is a master deceiver, even more than President Trump, who simply appears to be “new to Washington” and as yet “wet behind the ears” when it comes to understanding the role or function of the executive branch in our system of government.  If he can bumble through without starting a world war in the Middle East or plunging us into conflict with N Korea, he will likely be praised by the rabid Republicans who would rather spend for battleships, Mexican walls and military drones than to the care for the poorest of this nation.  Even the President has called the health care reform as “mean spirited”, a sentiment also echoed by former President Obama.

It is a pathetic world when we have such leaders as Trump, Putin and Mitch McConnell ruling this planet.  They only know of themselves, care only for themselves, and live only for themselves while making the rest of the world miserable with their policies of exclusion, greed and graft, enriching the rich, ignoring the poor and those hungry and without while they live in mansions made of gold.  The scales when balanced by Christ Jesus will surely give them their just reward!

O Lord, our Savior, we are grateful that you alone, not Trump, Putin or Mitch McConnell are actually in control of this world!  Despite what these men may believe, they are simply puppets playing out their lives on the world stage, ignorant of the truth and impoverished of compassion and righteousness.  O God, our God, in your great mercies, hear our prayers.  Hear the prayers of your people, those who go to bed without food, with limited medical care, who struggle daily to find their next meal.  All over the world, so many live in famine, in the throes of war and all its terrible consequences.  These men live in mansions made of gold and many precious things.

O God, our Savior, my Savior, and the Savior of all who call upon thee in their time of despair, need and crisis—remember those who a struggling simply to have one more meal, to find sustenance and safety for their little children, who long simply for a peaceful place to lie down their heads.  Remember these little ones, O Lord, and destroy all those who would destroy them.  Uphold those who seek your righteousness, justice, goodness, mercy and truth.  Remember these little ones who cry out to thee and move heaven and earth if necessary to help them.  Bring down the wealthy and the powerful and exalt the humble and those who have nothing to call as their own.  Balance the ledgers of the book of life in favor of those who put their trust in you!  For we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Savior and our Redeemer, who redeems all the little children who cry out for Thee!  Remember these little ones, O my Father and make haste to help them.  In Jesus’ holy and blessed name, to whom be all praise, glory, honor and blessing, both now and forevermore.  Amen.

Let all of God’s people say, “Amen!”

“Amen!  We praise you, Lord Jesus Christ!”

 

The voice of one crying out in this wilderness, “Make straight in this desert a highway for our God!”

“Amen and Amen!”